SAVANNAH MAYOR Edna Jackson made a difficult but responsible call this week when she asked for the resignation of City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney.

The mayor told the public and members of City Council late Wednesday during a work session that she had asked the city manager to resign on Tuesday. The mayor and council meet again next Thursday, as part of the council’s regularly scheduled meeting, to take whatever formal action may be needed.

Ms. Small-Toney did not indicate during or after Wednesday’s meeting — which included a closed executive session to discuss her performance — whether she would step down by then.

Let’s hope that she does.

Given what the mayor said Wednesday, it’s not a question of what’s best at this point for any individual. It’s bigger than that. It’s a question of what’s best for the future of city government, the city’s 2,500 employees and the larger community.

Ms. Jackson — and presumably, a majority of the nine-member City Council — have apparently lost confidence in Ms. Small-Toney’s ability to run the day-to-day operation of city government. Otherwise, the mayor wouldn’t have gone public and asked for her resignation.

Ms. Jackson doesn’t have the power to make this decision alone. She’s just one of nine votes. This is a group decision that a majority must make. It’s the job of the mayor, as the city’s elected leader, to express the majority’s sentiments.

That’s exactly what Ms. Jackson did, much to her credit. She knew she would face almost immediate criticism from some in the community. And she did.

But this decision doesn’t appear to be personal or political. It’s purely professional.

Under Savannah’s charter, the city’s elected officials set policy. They don’t directly run or supervise departments. Instead, it’s hands off. The mayor and council establish the parameters for how they want city government to function. Then, they get out of the way of their city manager.

This form of government has generally worked well here for more than 50 years. It has kept partisan politics out of the delivery of public services, which is as it should be.

However, this system requires the mayor and council to have full confidence in their city manager, who’s the most powerful person in city government. It’s the foundation on which council-manager form of government rests. But once that faith and trust is gone, so is the foundation. Then, it’s only a matter of time before public services suffer and citizens become the victims.

This is a tough time for everyone — for the mayor, for all members of City Council and for Ms. Small-Toney. The hiring and firing of a city manager are among the most important decisions any City Council makes.

It’s obvious that Mayor Jackson gave this matter serious thought before Tuesday. She has been one of Ms. Small-Toney’s biggest supporters on council and in the community. But again, this doesn’t appear to be personal. It’s about employee performance — with the mayor and council as the employer and the city manager as their top employee.

In this case, the council had been forced to deal with a growing list of worries, which include big stumbles in key offices, the city manager’s credibility and employee morale.

Wednesday’s specially called work session was held to discuss numerous performance issues, including problems within the city’s Purchasing Department. This department underwent a complete employee housecleaning earlier this year and appeared to be in disarray, with as many as 400 invoices going unpaid for at least 45 days in some cases.

Council members during a financial workshop earlier this week had asked for a special meeting to discuss personnel issues in Purchasing. But, as more issues surfaced during the workshop, council anticipated discussing the city manager’s role, too.

Indeed, Ms. Small-Toney earlier Wednesday reassigned Purchasing Director Carla Byrd to an administrative position over the Entrepreneurial Center. Joy Kerkhoff, the assistant purchasing director who had been moved out of the office, was asked to run Purchasing as the assistant director.

That doesn’t sound like sound management. It sounds more like a game of musical chairs.

To add to the list of concerns, some members are questioning whether the city’s budget position for 2013 is more severe than they have been told. Budgeting had been considered one of the city manager’s strengths.

City Council formally reprimanded the city manager on Aug. 31. Since that time, it was Ms. Small-Toney’s job to work to regain the council’s confidence.

That wasn’t happening. Otherwise, the mayor wouldn’t have asked for her resignation, which she didn’t have to do. The council, presumably, could have fired her, although that’s not Mayor Jackson’s leadership style.

And good for the mayor.

She tries to be a consensus-builder and a healer. She showed both skills Wednesday, to Savannah’s benefit.

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Savannah better wake up in the next election, enough is enough. This has gone on long enough and I'm glad to see the mayor and city council make the right call here, though most of us knew it was the wrong call to put Small-Toney in to begin with...

Aeds the first person to have been subject to the loving treatment of the cm here are a few tboughts.
The COS has lost much of its capacity to house cleaning by the cm. Otis,Mary and others were told that rst was short on skill and very nasty. It took 3yrs. And major screw ups to see that the empror has no clothes. Funny Micheal Brown in annoucning rst to the directors of the Public Development said this " She lacks some experince but I think she could get the job done". rst talks a great game but has delivered nothing but excuses and musical chairs. There is a trail of carange in her wake not equaled by Katrina. No one belived me but the truth is clear. Worst of all this could have been avoided. There is a retired city manger who is Black with bonified credintials far exceeding anyone in the pool of people interviewed. He is know to council who could have not just made history but true progress. This was about race but incompetence can not be allowed by any race. The Mayor got it correct she made a mistake but knows the people she serves must come first. The real question is how bad are things stay tuned!!

Otis railroaded RST into the job.It was obvious that she was a bad actor before she even got the job. I'm sure it's going to cost the City a bundle to get rid of her. Otis could have found a number of people who met his criteria of "looking like me", as he put it, who were qualified. Otis, RST is your legacy.

I am beginning to suspect that Edna's comments yesterday were a calculated performance. Why else would supporters of RST have been notified in advance and be allowed to speak? This is beginning to stink to high heaven.

RST supporters will now be out in force and vocal and the clowncil will then "bow to the will of the people" and keep RST.

For the council to take the steps they did yesterday. I suspect something new has occured that we don't know about yet. I only hope it is not too expensive a mistake. The mayor has done a complete 180 on RST. It must be more serious then we already know which is troubling because what we already know about the purchasing department is very serious. I think the best case is cronyism and abuse of funds. The worst case could be a misrepresentation of the fiscal strength of the city resulting in a restatement of city finances. We need to know the events that led to yesterdays announcement. If RST resigns that would help the city move on and avoid an ugly racial fight.

There is clearly a conspiracy afoot to try to wrangle, at the very least, the full 90 days probation period for RST. And whoever leaked that information to the team of supporters who showed up to speak on RST's behalf, should be exposed and at the very least censured. Our town clowncil does not work as a team---ever. The dividing lines are crystal clear. It is ridiculous. I also do not share the opinion of the editorial that Mayor Jackson acted as a "consensus builder and healer". She lacks leadership, backbone and vision. This has been obvious since day one. This city made a serious mistake in electing her mayor.

"In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds."1

Thank you Mayor Jackson for a statesmanlike decision, the effort for all citizens, and for helping to fulfill Dr. King's challenge that we "... will one day live in a nation where [people] will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Let us hope your action will be appreciated by all and be the bellwether of a new spirit of cooperation and effective government.

1 Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream speech, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Mayor Jackson! However, I wonder just what caused the decision to ask for Mrs. Toney's resignation now? I do think many of the City Council are in agreement with what Mayor Jackson said yesterda, except for Osborn, Shabazz and Mr. Hall. I have this great (hopefully ridicules) fear the City is out of money.